FSPS 2022 Annual Report to the Public

Continuous Improvement

Fort Smith Public Schools 2022 Annual Report to the Public

Students Save on Higher Ed Costs with Concurrent Associate Degree Pathways

Fort Smith Public School students and their families can save a minimum of $20,000 in direct higher education costs if they earn one of these two concurrent University of Arkansas Fort Smith associate degrees while they attend Northside or Southside high schools

Pending Higher Learning Commission approval, FSPS with UAFS will offer an Associate of General Studies that is fully transferable to a Bachelor of Business Administration and an Associate of Applied Science in Electronics Technology that is fully transferable to a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology in 2023 2024. The teams are working to create a pathway for an Associate of General Studies fully transferable to a Bachelor of Elementary Education for 2024 2025. Check the 2023 2024 Course Catalog for detailed information.

Available in 2023-2024

Associate of General Studies fully transferable to Bachelor of Business Administration

Associate of Applied Science in Electronics Technology fully transferable to Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology

17 Schools Earn Energy Star® Recognition

Energy conser vation success has earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR® Certification for 17 district schools. ese schools rate in the top 25 percent nationwide for energy efficiency.

Beard, Bonneville, Carnall, Cavanaugh, Euper Lane, Fair view, Howard, Orr, Park, Spradling, Sunnymede, Sutton, Tilles, Woods, Chaffin, Ramsey and Northside High School

e cost of utilities is a large budget line item and with the prices for electricity, natural gas, heating oil and water steadily increasing, FSPS has reduced its energy consumption by 25 2 percent

Shawn Shaffer, Executive Director of Facilities

Fort Smith Public School District students can now access free unlimited tutoring support 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the district ’s subscription to TutorMe.

The system, backed by a workforce of more than 15,000 tutors available at any time, provides on demand expertise in hundreds of subject areas in multiple languages whenever students need it They can simply click through their district issued Clever account to access this new resource for academic support

FSPS used $290,000 in Title 1 funding to purchase this academic support service Title 1 funds are limited to student achievement, staff professional development or parent involvement expenditures.

Information regarding FSPS teacher qualifications and student and school performance can be found using this QR Code to visit DESE’s “My School Info ”

On the Cover: e cover photo was made by Northside photography student Mya Chanthavong. Look for other photos throughout this report made by NHS and SHS students in Leigh Ann Hasley’s and Allison Strasser’s classes.

of Excellence

Beard Elementar y School teachers collaborate at strategic planning meeting.

A LWAY S T H E B E S T C H O I C E

Wow! What a year!

2021-2022 represented our first year as PK-5 elementary schools, 6-8 middle schools and 9 12 high schools. e Peak Innovation Center building opened March 28, 2022, as a result of hard work, planning and investment in Student Success and workforce development by our FSPS team, University of Arkansas Fort Smith and this incredible community.

Safety and security, technology and capital improvement projects are finished and we have completed the Vision 2023 Strategic Plan

All of this has positioned FSPS to make even greater strides in ensuring better and safer learning environments for Barling and Fort Smith’s youngest citizens.

As we have completed these high profile initiatives, we also have turned our attention toward processes that will strengthen our internal education delivery systems. We are emphasizing collaboration, relationships and data that are focused on helping students build knowledge and skills as they identify personal aptitudes and explore career fields and future employment

We have accomplished a great deal, but there is always the challenge of Continuous Improvement is is the theme of our new strategic planning process. It is designed to incorporate the accomplishments of Vision 2023 as we build new and fortify existing systems focused on Student Success.

We are visiting all schools in our district to gather staff and student input. We are speaking with community organizations and are hosting public meetings I hope you will use these QR codes to share your thoughts on four important questions. We will be presenting plans based on this feedback this Spring

We are grateful for your continuing support as we continue to build a culture of excellence focused on Student Success

Terry Morawski, Ed.D. Superintendent

• Guided by Collaboration, relationships, data and Career Focus, the Curriculum & instruction team is leading our district toward a “guaranteed and viable curriculum” that challenges each student with high expectations and rigor

• the Fsps safety and security team continues to leverage the resources that you committed for safer school environments their vision and your investment garnered Fsps police a position on the Arkansas safe schools Commission.

• our student services team has been recognized in the top 2 percent in Arkansas for the district’s Comprehensive school Counseling plan Additionally, this group led all schools and the district to purple star status with Arkansas’ Council for military Children.

• Charles Warren and the Child nutrition team have earned state and national recognition with their creative approaches to providing meals to students during construction projects Additionally, the Financial services team designed a Board approved plan to address the need for competitive starting wages for new teachers.

• Fsps human resources implemented an updated new teacher onboarding system at the beginning of this school year as a part of a developing recruitment, support and retention plan. Feedback has been excellent on their work so far.

From the superintendent S U C C E S S F O R E A C H S T U D E N T D R I V E S A L L T H AT W E D O

Fort Smith Board of Education

Spanish English

SHS Principal Jeff Prewitt is an enthusiastic Southern Grounds customer.

School-Based Enterprise project

“Southe rn Grounds” opens at Southside

Students in the Small Business Operations classes are practicing their drink prep and customer ser vice skills in Southside’s newly chartered School Based Enterprise (SBE) “Southern Grounds ” Students from the marketing program are responsible for the operation and management of the Southern Grounds cafe and market. SBEs provide realistic and practical learning experiences that reinforce classroom instruction while integrating national curriculum standards in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. ere are 28 students involved in the design and development. Teacher Adina Boatright said, “ when you incorporate other students such as Mrs ompson's students and other cross curricular projects, there are countless students who could be involved directly or indirectly!”

Information

Dr Gary Udouj, Stephanie Freeman and Amye Drackett congratulate Northside High School 2022 graduate Luke Monk on his accomplishment as the first FSPS student to earn an Associate’s Degree in conjunction with his high school diploma. See page 13.

The P Peak Innovation Center building opened in March 2022 to support career education and workforce development throughout the region emphasizing

Peak Scores

in Career and Technology Education

1,989 industry recognized certifications, up from 1,325 in 2020 21

400 students completed three classes in a CTE program of study

3,781 students are enrolled in at least 1 CTE course up from 3,613 in 2020 21

D vA N C E D M A N U FA C T U R I N G H E A LT H S C I E N C ES I N F O R M AT I O N T EC H N O LO GY

E E R & T E C H N O L O G Y

D U C AT I O N F O C U S I N G O N C A R E E R & C O L L E G E R E A D I N E S S

Community Outreach

ABB

E A R LY W I N S

P R O C E S S : H R S

Orr earns Level 1 and Level 2 HRS Certification

“Ensuring that we have systems in place to help us guarantee effective teaching in every classroom is key to our students' success. Effective teaching in every classroom is the focus of High Reliability Schools Level 2. Every member of our Orr Team, including our families and students, has worked together to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement through the gathering and analysis of survey data. For areas that needed improvement, we added systems and collected data to determine if the changes that we made resulted in a positive impact.”

Dr. Dawn Childress, Orr Principal

Spradling Earns Level 1 HRS Certification

“High Reliability Level 1 is all about having a safe, supportive and collaborative culture. As parents ourselves, we understand the importance of sending children to a school where you can trust he/she is safe physically and emotionally. As colleagues, we understand and recognize that no one person has all the answers or can single handedly meet the many needs of the students we serve We value the talents of each other and work together to collaborate and support each other We are continually striving to improve our practices so that we better serve our students.”

Elizabeth Love, Spradling Principal

2021 2022 Study & Learn

District and Building Administrators completed a deep dive study of the High Reliability School (HRS) framework and how it supports the work of the Professional Learning Community (PLC)

High Reliability Schools

e High Reliability School (HRS) program was created by Marzano Resources to help transform schools into organizations that take proactive steps to ensure student success Educators learn to assess, monitor and confirm the effectiveness of their schools. Schools must collect data and validate their performance Certification is determined by Marzano Resources analysts in cooperation with school data teams. It encourages educators to concentrate their efforts on five key areas of operation:

Level 1 certification means that Spradling and Orr Elementar y Schools have established a culture that meets the “Safe, Supportive and Collaborative Culture” criteria. is is the foundation for ever y level that follows.

by Dahlia Ramirez

by Landon Christianberry

howard elementary alum and 188th air Guard lTC lionel Riley greets students as they arrive at their Partner School, howard elementary. Partners in education began in 1982 at howard elementary School with Weldon Williams & lick as its first Partner. The program has grown to include Partnerships between 100s of businesses, organizations and all schools in the FSPS Family.

Schools are Capturing Kids Hearts

CKH training equips staff with tools and strategies to address the social and emotional needs of students.

The process empowers students and their teacher to establish mutually agreed upon standards of good behavior and respect.

“We have seen great results from Capturing Kids Hearts It has allowed us to build those relationships, to reduce social anxiety, to create a safe environment for all our students and what that does … it increases learning!”

Gina Mann, Principal Euper Lane Elementary School

R e l aT i o n S h i P S

“Congratulations! You have just mastered one of the most important

exclaimed Ramsey Middle School Principal Dr. Jennifer Prado when her newest class of 6th graders returned her signal and stopped talking. The “time” sign indicates “stop what you are doing and listen” for all students and all adults.

Information regarding FSPS teacher qualifications and student and school performance can be found using this QR Code to visit DESE’s “My School Info.”

Veronica Luna Geels

love them first so that we can lead them.

Donna Jones, Bonneville Elementary School Principal

e FSPS Elementar y Tennis Tournament is a culminating activity hosted for third-graders throughout the district. Students develop teamwork and leadership skills that will last a lifetime.

Kimberly Kiehl Soto, Fairview Elementary School Physical Education Teacher Relationships

PLCs emphasize the “All Hands On Deck” mindset that brings all adults on an education team together to support each student in their building.

Dr. Katie Kreimer-Hall, Supervisor of Curriculum and Professional Development

Before he retired, you could see custodian David Burns in classrooms actively participating in the learning process at Woods Elementary School. He is photographed here reading to students in Jeffery Judkins’ class.

What is a Professional Learning Community Guiding Coalition?

Guiding Coalitions are important because they bring exceptional people with varied job roles to the table to share ideas and give feedback in a safe, supportive, and solution-oriented setting.

In order to function fully as a Professional Learning Community as a district, it is important to have people engaged in the decision-making process that represent the systems and student supports throughout the district.

Our FSPS Guiding Coalition has members including representatives from elementary and secondary schools, administrators from different programs, directors, assistant superintendents, our FSPS Deputy Superintendent, Mr. Mahan, and our Superintendent, Dr. Morawski. Each week throughout the school year, we meet to discuss our district curriculum, processes to improve our practices, and innovative ideas to help us propel forward as a district.

Dr. Morawski encourages us to share our opinions and listens to our voices. Through the FSPS Guiding Coalition, he models the expectation of shared leadership that we use as building leaders in our schools through our school Guiding Coalitions.

In PLCs, we come together to work on providing the highest quality education for our students. We look at student data, we look at best practices and do everything that we can to provide the best instruction to every student in our school.

Clark Darby Middle School Band Director

Dr. Dawn Childress Orr Elementary School Principal

“Every student belongs to every teacher.”

S T U D E N T S U C C E S S

RAMSEY QUIZ BOWL

Ramsey Middle School Gold Quiz Bowl Team including Vincente Otero, Dipa Patel, Samuel Pritchard, Jackson Austin, Tzideny Romero, Shane Nguyen, Elijah Friery, managed by Natalie Tucker and Minni Khotsphom and sponsored by Amanda Allen won the Junior National Academic Challenge hosted by Questions Unlimited.

BRADEN SPRINGS

Northside High School JROTC Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Braden Springs was one of only 43 students worldwide recognized with the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross from the Legion of Valor of the United States of America e prestigious award recognizes cadets worldwide who have demonstrated excellence in military, scholastic and civic affairs.

GRIZZLY GEAR

Northside’s Grizzly Gear, the School Based Enterprise (SBE), is among 461 school based enterprises achieving Gold Certification for the 2021 2022 school year. is is the 10th consecutive year that Grizzly Gear has achieved Gold Certification Ben Maurer, Alexis Register, Braden Springs, Chase Delaney and their Small Business Operations teachers and DECA chapter advisors, Melinda Briscoe and Linda Holland prepared the 21 22 certification documents

of 2023

Merit

High School

Zaq

Trauschke,

Chairman,

for

into

CHAFFIN QUIZ BOWL

ELLIE BUNNELL

Ellie Bunnell, a senior at Southside High School, was selected as the 2021 22 Arkansas Journalist of the Year by the Journalism Education Association.

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS

Southside High School seniors Emma Paulus and Leen Samman are 2022 National Merit Scholarship Finalists named by the National Merit Scholarship Corp

JROTC PRECISION

Grizzly JROTC Battalion’s Braden Springs, Ashlyn Cancel, Mikayla McCall and Edith Aquino Valentin finished in first place in the state JROTC Rifle Precision competition e Northside JROTC program has won either sporter, precision, or both state championships 22 out of the last 25 competitions. eir sponsor and coach is MSG Patrick Hanson.

SOUTHSIDE STATE FBLA WINNERS

Southside High School students earned top honors in three categories in state FBLA competition.

Ella Grannon and Brianna Andrews 1st Place in International Business Anaya Tagarsse, Jiaya Shah and Mackenzie Settlage 1st Place in Business Plan

Emma Paulus 1st Place in Client Services ese students and their classmates are sponsored by Susan Colyer.

ARKANSAS SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION WINNERS

Mav Media won Arkansas Scholastic Press Association honors in 2022 Ellie Bunnell Yearbook Designer of the Year and All State Journalist Trista Truong Newspaper Designer of the Year Carsyn Lincks Yearbook Writer of the Year Boushra Raache Photojournalist of the Year Mailey Woolf and Gabby Woodie Best of ASPA Honors for Editorial Cartooning and Sports Photography Cooper Oxford & Kate Bunnell 1st in Advertising & Student Life Design eir teacher and sponsor was Susan Colyer

NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL ESPORTS

NCWIT AWARDS

Southside’s Urvi Sharma, Dipa Patel, Kathryn Wilson, Sydney Tran, Clair Merry, Natalie Tucker, Sarah Emmons, Vivan Apple, Jewell Callahan, Caroline Keck and Northside’s Courtney Nguyen received the 2022 Aspirations in Computing Award from the National Center for Women & Information Technology e award recognizes computing related achievements and interests based on aptitude, interest, leadership, academic history and plans for post secondary education.

LUKE MONK

Luke Monk, Northside Class of 2022, is the first FSPS student to earn an Associate’s degree through the Western Arkansas Technical Center at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith and his high school diploma at the same time Additionally, he is the district’s first to earn an Associate of Science in the Unmanned Aerial Systems degree program. Because of the FSPS partnership with UAFS, Luke is the first of many students who will be able to earn concurrent degrees

e Northside High School eSports team ‘Wheelie Good Team’ including Noah Ralston, Captain, JT Beasley, Nathan Fuhrman and Emmanuel Uribe, won their first State Championship in the Arkansas Activities Association High School Esports Mario Kart League e Northside eSports teams are coached by April Coats and Zack Coats.

SHS QUIZ BOWL

e Southside High School Quiz Bowl team, Jackson Austin, Jordan Kennedy, Isabel Nuno, Andrea Ortega, Vincente Otero, Dipa Patel, Sam Pritchard, Zain Rana and Tzideny Romero, captured first place in the nation at the National Academic Championships Junior Varsity National Tournament e Mavs defeated a team from Ankeny, Iowa 300 250 in the championship game. e quiz bowl team is coached by Josh Adams and Walter Woodie.

NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS

Five FSPS teachers joined more than 90,000 teachers across the United States who have achieved national board certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

AIMEE BRINKLEY

Aimee Brinkley, Pre AP and AP Biology teacher at Northside High School, is the Fort Smith Schools Teacher of the Year. Ms. Brinkley has taught at Northside since 2004 and is a National Board Certified Teacher She ser ves as the Instructional Chair of the science department and assisted in Northside’s achievement to become the first PLC Model High School in the state.

STACEY GLOVER

Euper Lane Elementar y Art Teacher Stacey Glover was named Arkansas Art Educator of the Year by the Arkansas Art Educators is statewide organization advocates for art education through supporting legislation and providing quality professional development for all art instructors in the state.

GINA LEWIS

Gina Lewis, Southside High School Computer Science Teacher, has received the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) AiC Arkansas Educator Award e award identifies exemplar y formal and informal educators who play a pivotal role in encouraging 9th 12th grade students to explore their interest in computing and technology.

Kristin Been, Northside High School

Angie Clark, Darby Middle School

Christina Cusick, Barling Elementar y Brittney Jackson, Sutton Elementar y Michael Johnson, Northside High School

Currently, 84 FSPS educators hold the National Board Certification

DR. KERI RATHBUN

Dr Keri Rathbun, former Northside Principal and now Director of Coordinated School Health and Career Counseling, received the 2022 Arkansas Secondary School Principal of the Year Award given by the Arkansas Association of Secondary School Principals and the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.

JEFFREY RICE

Southside High School AP Chemistry teacher Jeffrey Rice is the state winner of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science Teaching. e National Science Foundation oversees the program that recognizes outstanding STEM teachers who demonstrate a commitment to professional development, innovative teaching techniques, and technology use in their classrooms.

JUAN VELASQUEZ

Juan Velasquez, Sunnymede Elementary School first grade teacher, won recognition as the 2022 Outstanding TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Student in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville M.Ed. program.

Aimee Brinkley with Fort Smith Mayor George McGill

2022 State and National Pinnacle of Excellence Award

Charles Warren, CPA, SFO and Chief Financial Officer of Fort Smith Public Schools, has received the 2022 Pinnacle of Excellence Award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants e Association of School Business Officials International (ASBOI) created the Pinnacle Awards to celebrate the work of outstanding individuals whose original solutions maximize resources and enhance student achievement He received this award at the ASBOI Annual Conference & Expo in Portland, Oregon

“I am honored to accept this national award on behalf of the outstanding teams in financial ser vices and child nutrition. e brilliance of the Pinnacle Award is to showcase the ever yday creativity of our industr y. So often, school business officials face ‘ out of the box’ issues that are resolved efficiently and thoughtfully. e Pinnacle Award recognizes the importance of sharing our problem solving ideas that might other wise feel like an answer to ‘just another ordinar y ever yday crisis.’ I completed an application for the Pinnacle Award because of this simple fact: e more one shares, the more tools we all have for the day we face a similar challenge It’s a great validation for what, we at the District, all believe Fort Smith Public Schools is a leader in school business innovation ” Charles Warren, CFO

Project Summary

Grade reconfiguration and accompanying renovations at Northside and Southside high schools, including freshmen centers and expanded cafeterias, meant there would be no food ser vice kitchens at either campus for the 2020 2021 school year e goal of this winning project was to prepare meals off site to provide school breakfasts and lunches throughout 2020 2021 e solution was called “ Temporar y Offsite Kitchen” (TOK)

Leigh Christian, Director of Child Nutrition, scoured the city for a commercial size kitchen that could prepare the meals delivered to the two campuses to feed almost 3,000 students combined e staff from the two rival high schools came together in the central kitchen to prepare hot meals

Grand Avenue Baptist Church is centrally located and became the new kitchen site. e district made equipment upgrades and repairs to the church’s kitchen. e church considered the project to be a community partnership and charged minimal rent to cover utility costs for the full school year.

e district purchased two cargo vans to deliver the hot meals from the off campus kitchen to the high schools. Cold meals were prepared in temporar y buildings on campus ese temporar y buildings also provided safe space needed for efficient meal ser vice and even some student dining

e schedule for meal preparation, deliver y and ser ving was tight, but manageable, and there was no real disruption to high school meals in 2020 2021

Recruitme nt & Retention

The

Reconfiguration

mission is to Recruit,

Recruit

We are working with

in

as well as our

education

Chris Davis Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Campus Support

e 2021 22 school year marked the beginning of a new grade configuration for the Fort Smith Public Schools Transitioning 6th grade students to Middle School and 9th grade students to High School meant we needed to assist staff in making the transition, as well. ere were more than 200 staff transfers that took place last school year and we are excited that nearly everyone had some form of choice in what their new position would be. Not only did we transition core subjects, we also transitioned

of

Support

students in

e Human Resources

every

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meet the

of

We have reimagined our teacher orientation to provide point-in-time and ongoing support to our teachers new to the profession, as well as our district All new staff were introduced to our district with a 4-day orientation that included all departments Ongoing support is provided through follow-up visits, as well as quarterly sessions to meet and provide feedback and assistance on the issues that arise throughout the school year.

efforts

Conduct Stay Interviews with current staff.

In compliance with federal nondiscrimination laws, the Fort Smith Public School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, genetic information or disability in its employment and educational practices If you have questions regarding the professional qualifications of your child’s teachers or paraprofessionals, you are encouraged to ask Dr Christopher Davis, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Campus Support • Le invitamos a que hable con el Dr Christopher Davis si usted tiene alguna pregunta sobre las capacitaciones profesionales de los maestros o asistentes de maestros de sus hijos

Training

All officers have completed the Trauma Medics course and Stop the Bleed training e department has the ability to deploy Automated External Defibrillators, giving them the advanced lifesaving first aid skills to treat students and staff in the event of a mass casualty event

We have created and established a back to school in service training week During this spin up, all officers train in active shooter solo engagement tactics and response, medical first aid refresher, de escalation tactics, firearm qualifications, ethics and community and cultural awareness, youth mental health first aid and suicide prevention

All FSPS Police and the Fort Smith Police Departments completed an Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (A L E R R T ) course e training consisted of data driven tactically sound, standardized active shooter response training from across the country is enables law responders from different agencies to work together safely and effectively in stopping the active shooter

Social Worker Becca Sparks and Chief Bill Hollenbeck completed a Behavior reat Assessment Course is course is designed to give staff the skill set to conduct behavior threat assessments and follow up with strategies to prevent the pathway to violence

Communication

Sheri Fuhrman manages the newly developed dispatch center and screens all calls regarding crisis situations. is center can dispatch our campus police or any other needed emergency services, and has NCIC, ACIC

We have completed the installation and implementation of a Mass Notification

We have started the Police and Student Advisory Council. Officers who

schools and high schools meet with their student

to all

to discuss current affairs and/or

Tools to Enhance

FSPS PD uses a Behavioral reat Assessment System that tracks all reported threats e system and staff now can track behavioral threats

has analytics, email alerting and intervention

managed by Social Worker

who

is

the

Travis Watkins

Sheri Fuhrman

Ray RWhitson andy White

Mike Moss

Lilyahna Gonzalez

Justin Lopez

Joe Love

Brian Beaver

Becca Sparks

Eric Huber

Clayton Bray Anthony Cox

PD Social Worker Assists

Families and Educators

Becca Sparks is a social worker assigned to the Fort Smith Public Schools Police Department She aids school personnel in conducting Behavioral Threat Assessment interviews and maintains the system used to record threats and provide critical tracking data to ensure recommended or necessary mental health services are provided to a student in a timely manner. Sparks also provides crisis counseling to students, families and educators and works closely with the administration to create safety plans for at risk students

Behavioral Threat Assessment Goals

Transportant ” New to Bus Safety Features

“ Transportant” will be fully active on the 74 buses in the Fort Smith Public Schools bus fleet later this fall Currently, the safety focused app purchased by the FSPS Transportation Department allows the district and parents to track buses. Students can also access WiFi provided through this system Parents and transportation and security personnel can view camera feeds from the buses their children ride. When the ID scanners are fully activated, students will “ scan on ” and “ scan off” giving parents access to the bus number and data about the time and location of pick up and drop off, as well as the time of arrival.

is will be especially useful in situations where a parent calls about a student who is missing or hasn’t made it home yet. e app will tell us the student’s identity and include all pertinent information regarding their bus ride

Stacy Sangster, Supervisor of Transportation

A Behavioral Threat Assessment may be the first clue a student may benefit from receiving mental health services or it could be that we partner with services already in place to aid the student in coping skills, emotional regulation and violence prevention.

Documenting and following up on a threat can be an extensive process. It is our hope that the BTA can bring together collaboration from different areas of expertise in the building to ensure the student does not succeed in being violent

Student Mental Health Services Support Administration and Teachers Prevention Education/ Services

Deterring the path to violence starts with educating students on how they can report threats, resources available if they feel like they want to harm someone, as well as supporting parents and families after their student has made a threat

Information regarding FSPS teacher qualifications and student and school performance can be found using this QR Code to visit DESE’s “My School Info.”

“

All Schools and District Earn National Purple Star Designation

In January 2022, the Fort Smith Board of Education passed a resolution honoring military children to express collective support for military children and their families. Within a few months of this resolution, all district schools and the district had earned the designation of Purple Star. is national military support program is designed to help schools respond to challenges military connected children face during their transition to a new school so that we may help to ensure all are college, workforce, and life ready.

All of our schools have a school military liaison who is trained by the Military and Veterans Liaison at the Arkansas Department of Education ese liaisons make sure that families have the resources they need to be successful ey help students become a part of the school community, and they help students and families make connections with one another through special social events, and they coordinate professional learning for educators about the needs of military children

R E C O G N I Z E D

Accomplished

FSPS’ Comprehensive Counseling Top 2 Percent

Dr Michael Farrell, Executive Director of Student Ser vices, with Cherri Byford, Jane Stewart and all FSPS counselors, developed and completed a comprehensive school counseling program for the district that was then evaluated by the state Fort Smith Public Schools’ program received a designation of “well developed ” Only 2 percent of the state ’ s school counseling programs received this ranking.

Looking Forward

Counseling Programs Align to National Best Practices

Darby Middle School, Barling Elementar y School, Fair view Elementar y School, and Woods Elementar y School have qualified to apply for the Recognized ASCA (American School Counseling Association) Model Program or RAMP designation.

RAMP recognizes schools committed to delivering comprehensive, data informed school counseling programs aligned with the ASCA National Model framework. e application process is the culmination of successfully implementing the framework and showing evidence of direct and indirect ser vices to students, program planning and improved student outcomes in the school counseling program

RAMP is a voluntar y process that is similar to National Board Certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards

S T U D E N T S E R V I C E S & S C H O O L C O U N S E L I N G

by Rachel Stubblefield

Salary Base Increase

Payroll

Financing Our Culture of Excellence

Chief Financial Officer Charles Warren oversees the District ’s financial services including:

Payroll

Providing excellent customer ser vice for the FSPS family is among their primar y goals Angie Davis, Director of Financial Ser vices and payroll team leader notes, “ We are there when you first come to the district and when you are contemplating retirement We continue to work hard to make sure your pay and benefits are correct in the years between.”

Purchasing

e mission of the Purchasing Department for FSPS is to provide the timely deliver y of high quality goods and ser vices following fiscally responsible procurement practices and policy Craig Tecmire, Super visor of Purchasing, states, “Purchasing directly enriches our schools for student success. From keeping our copiers in ser vice, deliveries buzzing, and paper work flowing, the purchasing department is a leverage multiplier for our district ”

Business

e Business Office sends money out and records money coming in We balance the books We set up accounting procedures and processes to protect the integrity of our financial records. Br yan Hewitt, Super visor of Accounting, oversees the FSPS budget and works diligently to keep the books in compliance with state and federal regulations.

“Because our accounting systems are built on a foundation of strong internal controls, oversight, and principles, I don’t fear the term creative accounting. Creativity is needed to maximize the financial efficiency and effectiveness of the local, state and federal funds we work with ever y day Good financial stewardship supports staff and student success. ” Charles Warren, CFO

School

Fort Smith Public

members

B

R

FSPS Board Meetings

Sandy DixonDavin Chitwood

Matt Blaylock

Phil Whiteaker

Dee Blackwell President

Talicia Richardson Vice President

Dalton Person Secretary